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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27893614">Realisation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanticmum/pseuds/romanticmum'>romanticmum</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Just across the hall [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanditon (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Mention of sex, Modern Era, mention of drunkenness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:47:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,475</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27893614</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanticmum/pseuds/romanticmum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sidney goes to see Crowe to make him realise his drunkenness has consequences.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sidney Parker &amp; Other(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Just across the hall [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989562</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Realisation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This scene occurs part way through chapter 2 of Shall I dare again?, the second work in this series.  Sidney has just met with John at the pub to discuss the breakdown in John and Esther's relationship.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Sidney pressed the doorbell again, giving it an extra long burst this time.  Surely Crowe must be at home on a Sunday teatime?  But he was very much the night owl and mentioned meeting up with people in town after he left the games night yesterday evening.</p><p>Where he got the stamina from, Sidney did not know – for as long as he was friends with Crowe, he was always the party goer, never staying at home for very long – mainly just there to eat and sleep.  Although Sidney thought there was not much of that going on either.</p><p>Finally, the door buzzed, and Sidney pushed it quickly to enter the building.  He ran up the stairs two at a time to Crowe’s flat – he needed to admonish Crowe as he did not even check who he was letting into the building.</p><p>The door was left ajar for him.  Sidney shook his head – Crowe seemed to let fate have its way with him, ready to meet anybody and everybody to mix up his life.</p><p>Sidney reminded himself why he was here – there were a few things he wanted to say to Crowe that he thought about on the way here from the pub. </p><p>“Crowe, Crowe! It’s Sidney,” he called out once he was in the flat.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there in a minute,” Crowe called from the bathroom.</p><p>Sidney put the kettle on – he thought they could both do with a cup of coffee.</p><p> </p><p>Crowe appeared in the kitchen looking half asleep.</p><p>“Sidney! What are you doing here?  You just woke me up!” he moaned.</p><p>“How can you still be asleep?  It’s late afternoon,” Sidney responded and looked thoughtful.  “You haven’t got someone here, have you?”</p><p>Crowe shook his head, “I don’t sleep around as much you think, you know.”</p><p>Sidney made them two mugs of coffee.  “Here, drink this, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”</p><p>They walked across the flat to sit on Crowe’s sofa. </p><p>“By the way, you really should check who you’re letting into the building – there are other people who live here as well as you.”  He gave Crowe a serious glare.</p><p>Crowe nodded. “Yes, ok,” he said, like he hadn’t heard that a hundred times before.  “So, what is so important you came to see me?”</p><p>Sidney looked Crowe in the eye, “John.  We had a couple of beers in the pub this afternoon.  He told me what happened with Esther this weekend – he’s quite upset about it.”</p><p>Crowe’s face sobered at that – although he liked to muck about and have a good time, he did care about his friends very much.  They knew each other for years and he trusted them.</p><p>Interested to know the story, Crowe piped up, “What happened then?”</p><p>“Esther was over at his on Friday night, was going to stay over with him.”</p><p>Crowe raised his eyebrows at that.  From what John said, he thought they were taking their relationship slowly.</p><p>Sidney shook his head, “No, not like that, Crowe.  Not everything is about sex.  He said it was quite late and then you rang him, drunkenly slurring down the phone to him from some bar.  He tried to get you off the phone and Esther overheard some of the conversation.”</p><p>Not remembering any of this, Crowe flushed and looked away sheepishly.</p><p>“The call unsettled Esther, she accused John of disclosing private information to us and stormed off.”</p><p>Sidney’s tone was serious, and Crowe could not face him.</p><p>“They talked the next morning – John apologised, explained he didn’t talk to us in detail about them, but Esther said they should take a step back – go back to being just friends for a few days.”</p><p>Hearing Sidney’s long sigh, Crowe looked up to see the concern etched on his face.</p><p>“Crowe, I’ve not seen John this upset since Lorraine left.  The despair in his face last night after he left the game.  He really does like her.”</p><p>Nodding his head, Crowe finally spoke up, “ Yeah, whenever he looks at Esther, he’s got those heart eyes.”</p><p>Sidney looked across to him, his eyes searching Crowe’s face for something.</p><p>“So, what have you got to say for yourself, Crowe?  Can you even remember making the phone call?”</p><p>Shaking his head, and feeling his stomach churning, Crowe didn’t know what to say.  He went out with colleagues after work for a drink and then some of them ended up making a night of it, ending up in a club.  He could not remember much at all after about ten o’clock.</p><p>He could feel Sidney’s glare on him and flushed with shame.</p><p>Sidney wasn’t finished, “It’s not acceptable, Crowe.  John is a good friend to us, has been for years.  We both know he’s liked Esther for months, and to have the relationship end over some stupid drunk phone call…"</p><p>Crowe’s stomach churned again, “Does John really think it’s over between them?”  He looked up to Sidney, hoping this situation was not that bad.</p><p>“He was quite hurt after last night – said she never looked over to him all evening.  And then today he was so despondent, he felt that anything he did just wasn’t enough to please Esther.  I suggested he talk to her, all may not be lost.”</p><p>Crowe pondered this –  for himself, being physical with a woman came easy, it was the emotional side of a relationship that he found difficult.  That’s why he kept women at arm’s length - superficial interactions and sex was enough for him.</p><p>But he knew John was not like that.  He could only remember John having one one-night stand in all the time he’d known him.  John wanted more from a relationship – and if he was this upset, then he must care for Esther a lot.  Needing to do something to make this better, he decided to work with Sidney.</p><p>“I need to apologise to John, don’t I?” he asked.</p><p>“Yes, you do, and I suggest you also think of something that you can do for both of them, to show you’re sorry.”</p><p>“You think they can work this out?”</p><p>Sidney nodded, “John and I discussed it this afternoon, he’s going to talk to Esther – see if they can get to some common ground.  I suggested maybe they concentrate on getting to know each other better, go on dates, build the trust between them.”</p><p>Crowe nodded and thought for a few moments.  “I know the manager of a really good restaurant in the city centre.  I could sort out a dinner reservation for them?”</p><p>He looked to Sidney for confirmation that this was a good idea.</p><p>“Good, but I think it’ll have to be more than a reservation.  You’ll have to pay for the dinner, too.”</p><p>Sidney held Crowe’s gaze with a serious look, so Crowe knew he wasn’t joking.</p><p>He blanched, “But that place is expensive!”</p><p>Sidney had enough.  He needed to make Crowe realise that doing stupid pranks when he was drunk was unacceptable, especially when their friends’ lives were impacted.</p><p>“If it wasn’t for your phone call, Crowe, then John would most likely be sat watching TV with Esther right now.  As it is, he’s barely slept for two nights and he’s gearing himself up to talk to her to try and get them back together.  He was distraught this afternoon, Crowe.”</p><p>The shame crept back into Crowe’s face.  He remembered how miserable John was when Lorraine left him and, from what Sidney said, John was feeling just as hurt all over again.  He didn’t deserve that, he knew how good and decent John was – there were very few men like him.</p><p>Also, as he got to know Esther a little better these last few months, he had grown to like her.  Although she was quiet and shy at first, she grew more comfortable with the group, and he found her clever and astute with a dry sense of humour. </p><p>Crowe let out a sigh, “Ok then, I will offer to buy them dinner at my friend’s restaurant.”</p><p>A small smile of relief appeared on Sidney’s face. </p><p>“Good idea.  John and I are going to meet after work for a drink later this week, so I’ll let you know, and you can come and apologise, propose your dinner idea.”</p><p>Crowe nodded and accepted the task of owning up to John for his stupid antics and hoped his olive branch offering of dinner was accepted by him and Esther. </p><p>After Sidney left, Crowe took time to reflect on everything he had said.  He could not remember making the disastrous phone call, but it had serious repercussions.  Maybe he should rein in his drinking – doing stupid things like that was not worth losing his best friends over.  They had been the two main constants in his life for years now and he could not let anything change that.</p>
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